I used to live in NYC and the number of people who totally disregarded the rules of riding a bike or scooter were, in my opinion, probably the majority. Maybe if you ride in Central Park you are polite and mindful of the rules, but in the street, it’s every bike for themselves. In the past couple years I’ve only visited NYC, but I didn’t see any change in how the ebikers, business or not, handled themselves on the street.
And I totally fail to see the connection between learning to obey the rules of the road and momentum, besides if you’re going downhill you can go faster, and after all isn’t that more fun? And even if ebikes are legalized, and the rider has to attend a ‘learning’ course, you can be sure that once he is out of ‘school’ he is going as fast as he can, the straightest line to where he wants to go, sidewalks be dammed, up the street the wrong way, thru the intersection against the light, etc. That’s all part of the NYC way of life…pushing the limits. Rush Dougherty Tucson AZ 85719 From: Larry Gales [mailto:[email protected]] Sent: Saturday, July 11, 2015 5:44 PM To: Rush Dougherty; Electric Vehicle Discussion List Cc: EVDL Administrator Subject: Re: [EVDL] EVLN: NYPD busting & seizing escooters & ebicycles But are you talking about eBike RIDERS or eBike COURIERS? Yes, the eBike delivery people ride like maniacs because they have a strong economic incentive to drive as fast as possible, but all eBike riders (who can contribute to lower traffic congestion, parking, and pollution), should not suffer because of these few. Granted, all bike riders should learn to obey the laws, but this should be much easier to do in an eBike, because you have no strong incentive to maintain your momentum: it is just as easy to go uphill in an eBike, as on the level. On Sat, Jul 11, 2015 at 2:50 PM, Rush Dougherty via EV <[email protected]> wrote: While the law may be dumb and the facts cited wrong. The main negative thing about these electric scooters and electric bikes is that the riders TOTALLY ignore any law, they are actually quite dangereous. Even the average pedal bike rider ignores all the traffic laws. The name of the delivery game is how fast you can make your delivery period, not how fast you can do it and still respect the traffic rules. If the ebike riders would stop when they are supposed to, ride with the traffic, stay on the road, not the sidewalk etc, I'm sure they would be supported. But they don't obey the laws. Rush Dougherty Tucson AZ 85719 > -----Original Message----- > From: EV [mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of EVDL Administrator via EV > Sent: Saturday, July 11, 2015 1:25 PM > To: Electric Vehicle Discussion List > Subject: Re: [EVDL] EVLN: NYPD busting & seizing escooters & ebicycles > > Dumb, dumb law. NYC needs low-impact 2-wheel transportation as much as any other > large city. > > "We try to confiscate them as soon as we see them" is the sort of action that can give the > law a bad name. It sounds too much like the abuse of asset forfeiture laws that's been in > the news for the last few years. > > These laws need to be modernized, pronto. At the same time, bike riders need to obey the > traffic laws, whether their bikes have motors or not. > > Here in Ohio, no registration is required for e-bikes under 750 Watts. The law does require > either a driver's license or a "probationary motorized bicycle license" which you can get at > age 14 by passing a test. > > Not that I'd ever condone breaking the law, but today there's no reason that an e-bike can't > look exactly like an unpowered bike. A modern hub motor can be surprisingly > inconspicuous. Lithium batteries and wiring can be packaged inside the frame tubes. > > In fact powered bikes can be so subtle that for several years now the Tour de France has > been plagued by rumors of "doped bikes" or "mechanical doping." > > http://www.cyclingweekly.co.uk/news/latest-news/fresh-motorised-doping- > claims-ryder-hesjedals-bike-moves-134745 > > http://v.gd/FjUNaD > > Anyone trying to ride electrically "under the radar" would need to use plenty of discretion, > which I hope would prevent the kind of shenanigans that seem be be raising a few gripes in > NYC. > > David Roden - Akron, Ohio, USA > EVDL Administrator > > = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = EVDL Information: > http://www.evdl.org/help/ = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = > Note: mail sent to "evpost" and "etpost" addresses will not reach me. To send a private > message, please obtain my email address from the webpage http://www.evdl.org/help/ . > = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = > > > _______________________________________________ > UNSUBSCRIBE: http://www.evdl.org/help/index.html#usub > http://lists.evdl.org/listinfo.cgi/ev-evdl.org > For EV drag racing discussion, please use NEDRA > (http://groups.yahoo.com/group/NEDRA) _______________________________________________ UNSUBSCRIBE: http://www.evdl.org/help/index.html#usub http://lists.evdl.org/listinfo.cgi/ev-evdl.org For EV drag racing discussion, please use NEDRA (http://groups.yahoo.com/group/NEDRA) -- Larry Gales -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... 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